Beer stops flowing at Crooked Stave barrel room over licensing issue

It could be several weeks before beer starts flowing again at Crooked Stave’s new tap room in Denver because the business lacks the necessary licensing, according to the Department of Revenue.

The Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project, the labor of brewer-scientist Chad Yakobson, has a wholesaler’s license, which allows it to brew beer and sell alcohol to be consumed off-premises, said Mark Couch, a department spokesman.

But it lacks a manufacturer’s license, which it needs to sell beer to be consumed on site, he said. Couch said obtaining a manufacturer’s license typically takes two months.

Yakobson, however, said a Department of Revenue Liquor Enforcement Division official told him weeks ago that he only needed a wholesaler’s license to pour on site. He also expressed hope that the two parties – who are scheduled to meet Thursday – will be able to reach an agreement to allow him to start serving sooner.

“It’s a bummer, but we just want to be in compliance,” Yakobson said today. “We’ll do everything to comply with the state to get up to code.” He said Crooked Stave will apply for the proper license.

If the taps are dry for weeks, it poses a challenge to a relatively new start-up business that had banked on that revenue. At the very least, it puts into peril the special tappings Yakobson has in mind for Great American Beer Festival Week, a highly lucrative time for local beer emporiums.

“It’s not ideal,” Yakobson said. “As with any young company, cash flow is always important. At this time we only have so much product and the tap room is a great way to have people come in, and teach them more about our beer.”

He said he still plans to be open during GABF week to sell bottles, give tours and talk to people.

There were hints of trouble Friday when Crooked Stave posted this on its Facebook page:

SAD NEWS FRIENDS! :( The Tap Room will be closed for draft sales today, bottle sales ONLY. NO bottles can be opened here either :( Again, no draft sales in the tap room today, but be sure to visit us if you want to purchase any bottles :)

No further explanation was given. A similar post went up Saturday. As the Facebook post indicates, Crooked Stave is able to sell bottles from the tap room but they can’t be opened and consumed there.

Couch said the license issue came to light after a Liquor Enforcement Division official read about Crooked Stave in last Wednesday’s Denver Post, checked and found the business did not have the right license to pour beer on site, and informed Crooked Stave. Yakobson said someone came by the taproom and asked about the manufacturer’s license last week while he was out of town at a conference.

Opening a brewery and taproom involves considerable paperwork at the state, federal and municipal levels. Some brewers trying to open have complained about long waits and bureaucratic red tape. This particular issue, even with all the new breweries opening, appears to be an isolated case, Couch said.

Yakobson said the Revenue official he originally spoke with on the phone told him his wholesaler license was fine. Now, he says, that person “does not recall saying that, and I don’t have it in writing.”

“I was explicitly told that as the wholesaler, you own the beer and that is what gives you the right to serve it to consumers,” Yakobson said.

He said if he had known otherwise, he would have sought a manufacturing license weeks ago. His original plan was to open a bottle shop right away, and then the tap room at that location after getting the licensing. The conversation with the Revenue official caused the change of plans, he said.

(Hat tip to Jonathan Shikes at Westword, who first reported on Crooked Stave’s troubles with DoR).

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